Hanoi’s Department of Transport has planned to switch four major bus stations in the inner city into car parks and inner-city bus interchanges by 2020 (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Hanoi’s Department ofTransport has planned to switch four major bus stations in the inner city,including Gia Lam, My Dinh, Giap Bat and Nuoc Ngam, into car parks andinner-city bus interchanges by 2020.
This is part of the department’s draft plan toimprove parking lots, bus stations and bus interchanges by 2030 with a view to2050. Plans have been submitted to the municipal People’s Committee forapproval.
Under the draft, the four bus stations would stillbe places to pick up and drop off passengers but they would be graduallytransformed into parking lots.
Gia Lam and Giap Bat bus stations are the first tobe completed in 2020 with My Dinh and Nuoc Ngam following five years later.
The department also said the city would completethe construction of six new bus stations with total area of 73 hectares by2030. Noi Bai Bus Station in Soc Son district, Dong Anh Bus Station in Dong Anhdistrict, Co Bi Bus Station in Gia Lam district, Phung in Dan Phuong district,Western and Southern stations in Hoai Duc and Thanh Tri districts would replacethe four current ones.
New bus stations in the Belt Road 4 area, are moreconvenient for passengers to travel inter-province routes and also help easetraffic congestion in the inner city.
The department said it would mobiliseorganisations and individuals to invest in the car parks, especially those whowanted to build underground or multi-storey lots.
Hanoi has nine inter-province bus stations,covering a total of 17.9 hectares of land. Four of them, Giap Bat, My Dinh, GiaLam and Nuoc Ngam, are in populated areas, causing traffic pressure to the citycentre.
Hanoi, as well as other big cities, is facing asevere shortage of parking lots. Some 590 with total area of 38.9ha arecurrently in use in the central areas of the city, meeting only 8-10 per centof parking demand in these areas.
Due to limited public land, public parking lotsthroughout the city only serve 66 percent of the total demand, highlightingthe need for more spaces, especially in new constructions.-VNA
VNA
